Double sliding flush plug door gasket



Maichs, 1968 HERR ET AL DOUBLE SLIDING FLUSH PLUG DOOR GASKET 6Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 15, 1965 a R R E THEODORE 2. H B\IILLIAMHOVERMAN, JR. 4m; 6% 444 ATTORNEYS March 5, 1968 -r HERR ET AL DOUBLE$LIDING.FLU$H PLUG DOOR GASKET 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15, 1965 1IlN VENTORS. THEODORE Zv HERR 8 B WILLIAM 'HOVERMANJR.

ATTORNEYS March 5, 1968 T z HERR ET AL 3,371,445

DOUBLE SLIDING FLUSH PLUG DOOR GASKET Filed Sept. 15, 1965 v 6SheetsSheet 3 FIG. 4

v FNVENTORS. THEODORE Z. HERR 8 BYWILLIAM' HOVERMAN, JR.

ATTORNEYS March 5, 1968 Filed Sept. 15, 1965 T. Z. HERR ET AL DOUBLESLIDING FLUSH PLUG DOOR GASKET 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEYS March 5 1968T. z. HERR ET AL 3,371,445

DOUBLE SLIDING FLUSH PLUG DOOR GASKET Filed Sept. 15, 1965 6Sheets-Sheet 5,

FIG. 8

INVENTORS. I5 26 THEODORE z. HERR a ATTORNEYS WILLIAM HOVERMAN,JR.

March 5, 1968 T. z. HERR ET AL DOUBLE SLIDING FLUSH PLUG DOOR GASKET 6Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 15, 1965 R N F2 0 TRM w mmmm V .V a W20 0 H.E mm a DM a mm H TW ATTORNEYS United States Patent Uflfice 3,371,445DOUBLE SLIDING FLUSH PLUG DOOR GASKET Theodore Z. Herr, Highland Park,Ill., and William Hoverman, Jr., St. Marys, Ghio; said Herr assignor toThe Youngstown Steel Door Company, and said Hover-mar: assignor to TheGoodyear Tire & Rubber Company, Akron, Ohio, both corporations of OhioFiled Sept. 15, 1965, Ser. No. 437,405 7 Claims. (Cl. 4368) ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE Angle flap seals or gasket extensions capable ofattachment to the top and bottom of the auxiliary door compressiongasket of a railroad car. The compression gasket extensions are attachedto the interior flange of the auxiliary door which is overlapped by themain door (when both doors are in closed position) by means of integralflap portions. The flap portions carry projection pads which arereleasably received in mating apertures in the interior flange. Theauxiliary door compression gasket extensions extend only a portion ofthe length of the interior flange of the auxiliary door and terminate ina feathered edge. The feathered edge provides a tight seal at thejunction of the auxiliary door compression gasket extensions, theinterior flange of the auxiliary door and the compression gasket of themain door.

This invention relates to double sliding flush plug doors and gasketstherefor which are useful in connection with railroad boxcars. There hasalways been a sealing problem heretofore with single sheathed doorstructures and the gasketing of such doors. The doors, of course, arenormally of a very large size, and the car sides are usually ofdecreasing thicknesses, thereby making gasketing at the meeting of apair of doors (main and auxiliary doors), a difficult operation.

It is customary for doors of this type to be provided with cranks forcompressing the gaskets. The particular novelty in this invention isdirected to a new type of gasket.

One of the gaskets employed in this combination is of ordinaryconstruction, i.e., it is a four-sided gasket used on the top, bottom,right and left sides of the main door. The other door, however, isprovided with a three-sided gasket at the top, bottom and outside of thedoor. A special gasket structure is also provided at the meeting edgewhere the doors come together.

This invention is particularly directed to a structure referred to as asealing gasket which seals critical areas of a pair of sliding flushplug doors, and consists of a large gap, upwards of one-half inch, atthe top and bottom at the junctions of the main and auxiliary doorswhere it hits a flange section which surrounds the door opening.

The particular structure resulting at this opening is a flange of somethickness which projects into the door opening at each of the flush plugdoors and extends around the entire side. This flange has a compressiongasket mounted thereagainst on four sides of the main door.

The auxiliary door has a compression gasket on three sides, as well as ashort vertical member or extension which spans the opening between theedges of the flanges, both at the top and bottom. On the vertical matingside, the door is shortened and causes an interior flange because itcannot span the entire length since it does not provide Patented Mar. 5,1968 the proper sealing arrangement as will be apparent from thedrawings.

In order to provide for normal tolerances, a gap results between theauxiliary door interior flange and header of the door opening which isupwards of one-half inch at both the top and bottom of the doors. Theinvention described and shown herein provides for a sealing flap,sealing angle or gasket extension attached to the auxiliary doorcompression gasket and to the interior flange of the auxiliary door andseals the corners of the auxiliary door in a satisfactory manner. Thereis, of course, a corresponding seal at the bottom corner. The particularadvantages of this type of seal will be explained as well as the mannerin which said seal is adapted to fit and seal the large openings at thepoints mentioned.

It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved gasketsealing means for double sliding flush plug doors, and, in particular,to seal the junction of a pair of doors with a reinforced angle flapseal or extension at the top and bottom of one of the doors.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a new and improvedstructure for sealing double sliding flush plug doors characterized bycompression gaskets around all of the door sides and a type of flapgasket extension or seal at the meeting edge of a pair of doors.

It is still a further object of this invention to provide a new andimproved retaining device on the flap seal at the top and bottom cornerswhere the compression gaskets meet to provide for a tight seal andsecurely hold the flap seal to one of the doors.

it is another object of this invention to provide a new and improvedflap seal at the corner junctions between a four-sided compressiongasket on the main door and a three-sided compression gasket on theauxiliary door of a double sliding flush plug door railway carstructure. Such doors traditionally have leaked at this junction andthis invention provides a flap seal or extension of reinforcedconstruction attached to one of the compression gaskets, preferably theone on the auxiliary door, along the horizontal surface thereof and tothe door along its vertical mating surface. The purpose of thisconstruction is to provide a cover for the gap at the junctions of thedoors Where the door and the jamb meet at the header and thresholdcorners.

Thus, this invention is directed to an angle flap seal or gasketextension capable of attachment to the threesided compression gasketwhich generally surrounds the auxiliary door of a railway car having adouble flush plug door construction. The flap seal or extension isreleasably attached to the auxiliary door compression gasket and theinterior flange of the auxiliary door. The angle flap seal extends onlya portion of the length of the interior flange of the auxiliary door andterminates with a feathered edge. The feathered edge provides a tightwaterproof seal at the junction of the angle flap seal or gasketextension, the interior flange of the auxiliary door and the main doorcompression gasket.

To accomplish the foregoing and related ends, said invention thenconsists of the means hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims, the following description setting forth indetail one approved means of carrying out the invention, such disclosedmeans, however, constituting but one of the various ways in which theprinciples of the invention may be used.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic, fragmentary side elevation of a double slidingflush plug door, showing the novel gasket in dotted lines;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the main doorstructure shown from the inside;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of the auxiliary door structure;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary exploded perspective view of the main door shownfrom the outside;

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, showing the auxiliary door;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevation showing the cooperation of the doorswith their gaskets;

FIG. 7 is a section on line 7-7 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a section taken on line 8-8 of FIG. 6, showing the main doorgasket in compression against the car header and the flap sealattachment of the auxiliary door gasket;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8, showing the main door partiallyretracted;

FIG. 10 is a section on line 10-10 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a fragmentary plan view on line 11-11 of FIGS. 1 and 6;

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11, showing the doors retracted fromthe header, with parts broken away;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary section showing a modification, and;

FIG. 14 is a view similar to FIG. 13, showing the door closed againstthe jamb of the car opening.

By way of background, it should be stated that double sliding flush plugdoors have been well known in the prior art. The prior developmentsillustrate that doors have been spanned for great distances, sometimesexceeding widths of twenty feet and heights of thirteen feet. Naturallya pair of such doors provides for large openings or ready access tochambers and whatever commodities are contained therein. Doors have beenknown to be equipped with cranks and/or other means for exertingsubstantial force upwards of 500 pounds on a door, but there has alwaysbeen a problem in securing gaskets in a door. Gaskets, of course, arenot new, and compression gaskets are recited in the following patents:Weaver, No. 2,528,705; Swaneck, No. 3,038,218; Herman, No. 2,963,754;Read, No. 2,896,276; and Herman, No. 3,025,576. Compression gaskets havebeen employed on a flanged jamb, as disclosed in the Weaver patentmentioned above. Flap gaskets have been used for covering the junctionof a door and a jamb, as for example in Pat. No. 690,648. Pat. No.1,888,299 discloses the extension around the corner. The problem of twomeeting doors occurs in connection with refrigerator car doors, and thecompression gasket has been known to expand laterally to cover a gapbetween doors, as exemplified in Patent Nos. 2,575,094, 2,767,040 and2,737,781. The Amana Pat. No. 2,811,406 illustrates a combinedcompression gasket on three sides with a type of flap on the meetingedge of two doors.

The present invention, however, is particularly characterized by anangle flap seal or sealing flap that carries the compression gasketbetween the horizontal top and bottom compression gasket surfaces of themain door, and then carries the compression gaskets over to the verticalsurface so that a single compression gasket covering that seam can beextended from its shortened vertical length to cover the full flange andto span the gap between the door and the flange at the header andthreshold area.

FIG. 1 illustrates a pair of boxcar doors in a boxcar side. The doorsare of double sliding flush plug construction. In this view the maindoor is shown at 10 While the auxiliary door is shown at 11. Each doorhas a suitable camming means and rolling means to make the door slideacross the opening and to fit therein with a plug fit.

This invention is particularly directed to the sealing means for a doorand consists of an angle flap seal or gasket extension which isparticularly shown in FIG. 3

and covers the opening between the pair of doors at the header andthreshold portions. The main door, FIG. 2, is of standard constructionwith an exterior flange portion 12, a top or header flange 13 and a sideflange or jarnb 14. The inside flange or jamb portion is shown at 15with a retainer channel member 16 which has a special corner retainer 17for holding the compression gasket, which is generally shown at 18. Thecross section of the gasket is similar on the main door around itsperiphery on all four sides except for the special corner section.

The auxiliary door, FIG. 3, has a header flange 20 at the headerportion, a side flange 21 and a flat metal side or interior flange 22 atthe meeting edge between said auxiliary and main doors. In addition, theauxiliary door has a cut-out portion which is indicated generally at 23which teiminates at the flat metal side interior flange 22 as at 24,short of the header flange 20. Likewise, the header flange 20 terminateswhere it meets the flat metal side 22 at the side portion 26. Thecompression gasket for the auxiliary door is shown generally at 27. Ithas a header portion 28 as well as an outside portion 29.

This invention is particularly directed to the angle flap seal or gasketextension which is generally indicated at 30, FIG. 3, It has a secondflat portion 31, which is of generally rectangular construction, a firstflat portion 32 at right angles thereto and connected by means of afillet 33. The first portion is connected to the compression gasket 27by means of a tenon projection 34, that mates with a correspondingmortise 35 in the compression gasket 27. This secures the gasketextension to the compression gasket. The second portion of said gasketextension has on the rear side thereof a substantially rectangular flap37 which has an outward or first leg 38 and a downward or second leg 39,as well as an inwardly projecting pad 40. The flap 37 projects over theflat metal side or interior flange 22, and the pad 40 projects into anaperture 42 defined by flange 22.

Compression gasket 18 for the main door and gasket 27 for the auxiliarydoor are moved into and out of contact with each other by means of camsurfaces on the door as at 44 and by longitudinal bars 45 with speciallocking means 46, FIGS. 1 and 7. The doors are roller operated, atypical roller 47 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 7; in this Way the doors aremoved from one sliding position to another to expose and close the dooropening.

FIG. 4 is an exploded rear view of the main door and gasket 18, andillustrates the door 10 with its header flange 13 and meeting or insidejamb flange 15. The retainer channel for the gasket is shown at 16. Inthe rear portion of the gasket are apertures 49 for the molding of thegaskets. A detailed structure of the corner formation 50 is shown inthis view. This structure helps retain the corner in position underoperating conditions.

FIG. 5 gives further details of the angle flap or gasket extension sealas well as the manner in which it is fastened in the retaining channel16 and the fiat metal side or interior flange 22 of the auxiliary door.The angle flap seal 30 is held against interior flange 22 by its 118.1)37 (visible in FIG. 3). Pad 40 projects through the aperture 42 in theflat metal side or interior flange 22 to support the angle flap seal 30in position and enable it to fill the corner that has been cut out ofthe auxiliary door. This corner cut-out is shown at 23 is FIGS. 3 and 5.

FIG. 6 illustrates the operating relationship of the compression gasketsfrom the inside of the door. The main door gasket 18 extends across theheader portion and down the vertical meeting edge and may be seen behindthe auxiliary flap seal or gasket extension 30 as at 52. The auxiliarydoor gasket 27 has a header portion 28 with a mortised slot 35 (notshown), and the angle flap seal 30 has a tenon projection as at 34 (notshown) that fits therein to hold the angle flap seal against theauxiliary door and gasket 27, thereby securing the first portion 32 tothe door. The second portion 31 is substantially rectangular with aretaining flap 37 that fits over the fiat metal side or interior flange22 and has pad 40 which projects into aperture 42 in the flat metalside. The front edge of the gasket is feathered to a line as at 53 sothat the vertical portion of the main door gasket 18 will graduallycompress and form a tight seal against the angle flap seal 30 andagainst the flat metal side or interior flange 22 along the meeting edgeof the main and auxiliary doors.

FIG. 7 shows a typical vertical cross section through the auxiliary door11 as well as the external flange 20, together with the auxiliarycompression gasket 27. The header portion of the car side is shown at54. The camming means is generally shown at 44 to cam the door 11 into aflush plug door in the car side. The roller means for moving said dooris shown at 47.

FIGS. 8. and 9 give the sequence of operations, and are taken along line8 8 of FIG. 6. The horizontal compression gasket 18 held in retainingchannel member 16 is compressed against the header portion 54. Alsoshown is the angle flap seal or gasket extension 30 with its retainingflap 37 and pad 40. The first portion 32 of the angle flap seal 30 isshown at its feathered edge 53.

In FIG. 9, where the main door is shown retracted away from the headerpoltion 54, the full end view of the first portion 32 is seen therein aswell as the way in which it forms a right angle with the second portion31. This provides for a very good connection to the door by means of theflat metal side or interior flange 22, and it is fitted against the sideof the door as at 26 and held to the compression gasket, as noted inconnection with FIG. 5, so that it is firmly positioned.

The remaining operative positions are shown in connection with FIGS. 11and 12. FIG. 11 shows a crosssectional view of FIG. 1 as Well as of FIG.6. The main and auxiliary doors and 11 respectively are shown with thecompression gasket 27 of the auxiliary door 11 compressed against theheader portion 54. The angle flap seal or gasket extension 30 is shownfilling the gap between the header portion 54 and the main door. Angleflap seal 30 is secured to the auxiliary door compression gasket 27 bymeans of the tenon connection 34 in mating mortise 35. The angle flapseal has the second portion 31 and the first portion 32 mutuallysupported by fillet 33, making a seal against which the compressiongasket 18 may fit. On the inside and below the header is the retainingflap 37.

FIG. 12 further brings out the position of the gasket members when theyare away from the door and separated one from another. Note carefullyhow in the non-compressed state, the auxiliary door gasket 27 is taperedas at 55 so that it overlaps the angle flap seal 30 as at 56.

The other figures, particularly FIG. 10, show the main door 10 andauxiliary door 11 together with the main door gasket 18 which is fittedagainst the flat metal side or interior flange 22 on the auxiliary door.This view (FIG. 10) is the cross section taken in the middle of the doorwhere the angle flap seal does not show.

FIGS. 13 and 14 show an arrangement of another type of gasket 60, whichgenerally has a bulbous portion 61 and a preformed flap 62 which issecured by means of a retaining metal strip 63 and fastened to theflange of the door as at 64. The compressed condition, FIG. 14, is shownat 66 making a tight seal with the door. The operative relationshipswould be substantially the same for this type of gasket.

It will be seen that this angle flap seal or gasket extension is aneflicient way of making a tight connection that will span the gap in apair of sliding flush plug doors.

It will be apparent that numerous changes and modifications in theinvention may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art, and,therefore, the embodiments illustrated are not meant to be restrictivewith all modifications and changes apparent to those having skill in theart comprehended within this invention which is to be limited only bythe scope of the claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. In a railway car having double sliding flush plug doors;

said car having a side with a door opening therein defined by header,threshold, and side interior flanges;

one of said doors being a main door and having exterior flanges aboutits periphery extending substantially parallel to the car side andspaced therefrom;

a compression gasket on the interior side of said main door exteriorflanges adapted to fit, engage and seal said header, threshold and oneof two side flanges defining said door opening;

the other of said doors being an auxiliary door having exterior flangesabout its top, bottom, and door opening engaging side;

said flanges extending substantially parallel to the car side and spacedtherefrom;

said auxiliary door further having an interior flange extendingsubstantially parallel to the car side between the top and bottomflanges of said auxiliary door on the side thereof opposite said dooropening engaging side whereby said interior flange of said auxiliarydoor is overlapped by the adjacent exterior flange and compressiongasket of said main door;

said auxiliary door having a compression gasket extending along theinterior sides of its exterior flanges;

wherein the improvement comprises said auxiliary door compression gaskethaving extensions above and below said interior flange having a firstportion substantially perpendicular to the planes of said flanges and asecond portion integral with said first portion posi tioned against onlyportions of the exterior side of said interior flange of said auxiliarydoor adjacent the header and the threshold;

said auxiliary door compression gasket extensions further having flapportions extending a short distance over the top edge and a shortdistance under the bottom edge of the interior surface of the interiorflange of said auxiliary door to complete the seal between the headerflange, the threshold flange and the main and auxiliary doors.

2. The improvement of claim 1 in which said flap portions have a firstleg extending inwardly of said auxiliary door;

said first leg being adapted to extend over the top edge and bottom edgeof said interior flange of said auxiliary door;

a second leg extending transversely from said first leg;

said second leg having a pad connected thereto;

said pad projecting toward said auxiliary door interior flange;

said auxiliary door interior flange having an aperture at the top andbottom thereof;

said apertures being adapted to releasably receive said pad andtherefore releasably secure said fla-p portion and extension of saidauxiliary door compression gasket to said auxiliary door.

3. The improvement of claim 1 in which means are provided for releasablysecuring said extensions to the auxiliary door compression gasketmounted on the exterior flange about its top, bottom and door openingengaging side.

4. The improvement of claim 3 in which said means are tenons carried bysaid extensions adapted to be releasably secured complementally shapedmortises in said auxiliary door compression gasket.

5. The improvement of claim 2 in which means are provided for releasablysecuring said extensions to the auxiliary door compression gasketmounted on the exterior flange about its top, bottom and door openingengaging side.

6. The improvement of claim 2 in which said means are tenons carried bysaid extensions adapted to be releasably secured in complementallyshaped mortises in said auxiliary door compression gasket.

7. The improvement of claim 2 in which a portion of said extensions arefeathered to provide a tight seal at the junction of said auxiliary doorcompression gasket extensions, said interior flange of said auxiliarydoor and said main door compression gasket.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Gautschi 49-488 Tremblay et al.49475 Madland 49--426 X OConnor 49-495 X Bertolini 49483 X Butler 49-485X Landis 49483 X DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. P. C. KANNAN,Assistant Examiner.

